Five regrettable Canadian tweets

Danielle Smith

File photo

Danielle Smith's apology over a tweet wasn't her first notable experience on Twitter: This picture of her campaign bus made the rounds and attracted all kinds of interest. Even Jay Leno got in on the act.

Smith is hardly the first Canadian to misuse those precious 140 characters. Here are a few other notable mistweets:

The (legendary) Lightfoot Incident. Gordon Lightfoot briefly died in 2010, until a tweet referring to his demise was debunked. But in just a few minutes, the “news” had been reported far and wide.

Glen Murray’s unfortunate “bigot” affair. The former mayor of Winnipeg got a trial by fire after becoming an Ontario cabinet minister. In 2010, he used Twitter to take aim at Rob Ford, who’s now mayor of Toronto. He retweeted another person’s message calling to Ford as a bigot. But it didn’t stop there. The tweet also applied to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.

Krista Ford and the “whore” business. Speaking of the Fords, a member of their own family has issued an apology over Twitter comments herself. Earlier this year, Krista Ford, the mayor’s niece, was roundly criticized for tweeting a warning that women should protect themselves from attacks by not dressing like “whores.” She later took to Twitter to say sorry, tweeting: “I didn’t mean to cause such an alarm and I apologize if I did. I just want women to be safe.”

Oh, those hot chicks. Toronto city councilor John Parker apologized for causing offence with a Twitter post in which he said he met “hot chicks” at a Heritage Toronto event at City Hall.

“Delighted and honoured to help unveil eight new Toronto heritage plaques and meet hot chicks in the bargain. I love my job.” Parker tweeted. The councillor later apologized for the tweet.

Heritage Toronto’s communications director Rebecca Carson said she believed the “hot chicks” remark was directed at her. During the event, she said, she had talked to Parker about his wry Twitter persona. She said she was surprised, but not offended, by the remark.

Down and out on Parliament Hill. Liberal MP Michelle Simson apologized publicly for insulting Conservative Dean Del Mastro during a committee meeting by posting: “Del Mastro should grow up (not out)” on Twitter. Del Mastro, who is not slim, demanded Simson say she was sorry in the House of Commons.

Of course, Smith has had her share of exposure on Twitter as well. The above photograph made the rounds on the social media site during her last campaign. A staffer called it an “unfortunate insight.”